Louis XV of France

Louis XV of France (15 February 1710-10 May 1774) was King of France from 1 September 1715 to 10 May 1774, succeeding Louis XIV of France and preceding Louis XVI of France.

Biography
Louis was born on 15 February 1710, the son of Dauphin Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adelaide of Savoy. Louis was the great-grandson of King Louis XIV of France through his father, and he succeeded him in 1715 after his grandfather and father predeceased the King. His great-uncle and first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orleans served as regent until 1723, when Louis XV was coronated as King of France. On 4 September 1725, he married Marie Leszczynska, the daughter of Stanislaw I of Poland. Cardinal Andre-Hercule de Fleury served as Chief Minister for the childish Louis XV, who was in a perpetual state of adolescence while holding a very important title. In 1743, at the age of 33, Louis was forced to rule the kingdom by himself when Cardinal Fleury died, and he was dragged into the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742, as France sided with Prussia against the Austrian Empire, which had elected Maria Theresa (a woman) as Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. This caused upheaval in Europe, and the French were able to take over the Austrian Netherlands after the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745; however, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 led to control of Flanders being returned to Austria. Louis later decided to ally with Austria, leading to war with Prussia and Great Britain in 1756 in the Seven Years' War. The British conquered France's lands on the North American mainland, with Canada falling to Britain and France ceding the Louisiana Territory to Spain. The weak Louis XV died in 1774, having weakened France with his ineffective rule; his grandson Louis XVI of France succeeded him.